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A man who has an itching for the thing, and who desires to become a pond-skimmer, as they are called, carefully selects from his squadron of palmipedes, the strongest, the most intelligent duck or goose of the party; his choice made, he immediately sets to work to give him the education befitting a bird destined for so honourable and diplomatic an employment.
"All the individuals of this order, as their name palmipedes, or web-footed birds indicates, have their toes united by a wide membrane. Ducks, many species of which are found in Mexico, have a flat bill; and their short legs, placed so far behind, compel them to waddle in walking, although they can swim with great facility." "How do they manage to perch on a tree with feet of that kind?"
They were the first of this family that we had killed, and Lucien in vain tried to make out what he called their relationship. "They are neither passerines," said he, "nor palmipedes. Climbers, too, have differently-made feet." "Your doubts are very natural," interposed my friend; "even ornithologists are very undecided on this point.
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